The latest incident happened Sunday at about 11:30 p.m. Patrol officers were on a traffic stop near 8th and Adeline Streets in West Oakland when they heard shots. They were detaining people in a car on suspicion of drug-related offenses.

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Good thing that the “disadvantaged urban yutes” never learned about marksmanship. Shooting down requires extra elevation because of the greater bullet drop. Better for the police that the “snipers” aren’t trained. Any “misguided child” after boot can make that shot; however, it’s doubtful they would. If we ended the (pseudo) War on (some) Drugs, then the police wouldn’t be down range on a hot range or in a one direction free fire zone.

Can Charles Rangel Be Saved?
Saturday, July 24th, 2010 – by Jazz Shaw
Rangel’s ethical woes have cast doubt on the 40-year veteran’s future in the House.

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Don’t count on any significant backlash from the voters. Rangel’s various ethical problems have been well known for a long time now, but he continues to win reelection with astronomical margins. Take a look at the map of New York’s 15th District some time. Unlike many vast, rural districts around the nation, the 15th is one of the most compact you will find. It runs along a roughly seven mile stretch of the Hudson River, taking in Fort George, Harlem, and Marcus Garvey, as well as grabbing a few plots of land out near LaGuardia Airport.

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As a little L libertarian have no use for any politicians and bureaucrats of the Empire, but, like a stopped clock, Old Charlie is right every year when he submits his “military service draft” bill. The All Volunteer Army allows the Gooferment to wage wars without the ugliness of the Vietnam era draftees upsetting the serfs. A draft does have the value of making sure that everyone, except the elite who always wiggle out, has a stake in any undeclared war. And, it continues to highlight that the Gooferment has not ended the draft. It still keeps all the infrastructure and the political no show jobs with lucrative pensions around. SO Rangal highlights the idiocy of the whole situation. Year after year. Reminds me of the Spanish American War Telephone Tax!

Should You Be Allowed to Know What’s in Your DNA?
“You can’t handle the truth!” That’s the federal government’s latest message to Americans seeking to learn the content of their own DNA.
July 15, 2010 – by Paul Hsieh

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Opponents of direct-to-consumer genetic testing typically raise three standard objections, including: (1) the test results may be inaccurate; (2) even if the results are accurate, customers will not know what to do with the information; and (3) customers may learn about genetic defects that could make health insurance prohibitively expensive or impossible to purchase. However, a truly free market in health services and health insurance would address all of these concerns.

Customers concerned about the reliability and accuracy of their test results are best served by a free market that subjects products to the pitiless scrutiny of consumers seeking the best value for their money. Of course, if an unscrupulous company makes fraudulent claims about its services, it should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Protecting consumers against fraud is one of the proper functions of government. But if personal genomics companies otherwise truthfully describe the capabilities and limitations of their tests, then the early adopters should be left free to exercise their best judgment as to whether they wish to purchase those services.

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If it’s my body, who is the Gooferment to interfere?

Prevent force or fraud, fine. Keep me from making a mistake, not so good. Tell me I can’t have the use of my own body, tyranny.

Time to pound the FDA back into historical irrelevancy. Who would you trust with your health? (1) Politicians and bureaucrats; or (2) a free market with Walmart, Walgreens, and innumerable competitors “supervised” by Consumer’s Reports, Underwriters Laboratory, the media, the general public, and the Trial Lawyers?

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2010 / 05:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Coins bearing the image of Pope Benedict XVI are now in open circulation within Vatican walls. As of this month, Vatican visitors will find that 50 cent pieces are being given as change at places such as the gas station, pharmacy and post office.

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Imagine the impact on the world if the Pope led the way to “honest money”?

Hard to imagine.

Gooferments, around the world, steal the people’s wealth by inflation. They claim the “King’s right”, the “Soverign’s duty”, or the “Tyrant’s Treasure Chest” to produce “honest coins” or “money”. (Like the marketplace could not figure out what “money” was “honest” on its own. Gresham’s Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham%27s_law would demonstrate whats good and what’s not, without any “inspectors”. The Gooferment steals the wealth by printing more paper money, called “fiat currency”. Fiat because it has value because the Gooferment says it has value. No conflict of interest there.

Now here’s why the Pope should care. Inflation, the printing of “extra” money, impoverishes the poor, middle class, savers, and old age pensioners. That’s why he should care.

Inflation results in higher prices in the marketplace. Wages lag inflation. If they rise at all, it won’t be proportional. Investment, similarly, never “catch up”. So pensioners get hit with a triple whammy: their pensions are usually fixed and so don’t go as far as they used to, their savings are eroded, and prices go up.

So that’s why the Pope should act.

The Church has always been the traditional refuge for the serf from the abuses of the King. (I’ve seen enough Robin Hood and Zorro movies to know that.) It’s time for that to happen again.

Imagine if the Pope ordered all Vatican coinage to be in gold or silver?

First impact, that they’d be selling like hot cakes to the tourists. Then would come the folks overseas. As an example of “honest money”. The Vatican could even show a profit; much more than what they rip off coin collectors for meaningless proof sets.

And the little people would have money that could not be stolen silently by the King’s printing press.

Even the most illiterate dumber-than-a-rock parishioner could see the benefit of using the Pope’s money for savings.

It would be the ultimate control on the power of the King — the Gooferment.

IMHO one of the reasons, or possibly THE reason that Old Sadam got knocked off his horse was NOT wmd; the tyrant had the audacity to suggest that he wanted to be paid for his oil in gold. Rumor was that he was months away from starting an oil exchange denominated in gold. Remember the “Gold Dinar”? Not that he had a religious bone in his tuckus, he was pushing the religious aspect too. Hey, he realized that the FED was going to “tax” him on his dollar holdings. Silently. With no muss ‘n’ fuss, as the printing presses kept rolling out dollars.

So, Holy Father, the little people of the world would like you to end the tyranny of the King, who steals their little bit of wealth, give us honest money. If you truly believe in the workman being worth his wage, then make sure he get it in something that is worth something. Honest money is Godly money. And, slapping on a few saint’s pictures on the coins wouldn’t hurt morality either.